Carbon nanotubes-ceramic composites

Carbon nanotube-ceramic composites (684) showing 37% increase in bending strength compared with other carbon-filled samples (629 carbon fiber, 644 carbon black, 645 graphite), from Ref. 19. 

Zhu, L., Tian, C, Zhai, J., and Yang, R. (2007) Sol-gel derived carbon nanotubes ceramic composite electrodes for electrochemical sensing. Sens. Actuators B, 125 (1), 254-261. 

Reprint from Acta Materialia, Vol. 52, Xia Z., Ricster L., Curtin W.A., LiH., Sheldon B.W., Liang J., Chang B. and Xu J.M., Direct observation of toughening mechanisms in carbon nanotube ceramic matrix composites, pages 931-944, Copyright (2004) with permission from Elsevier. 

Four different classes of composite ceramic electrodes were reported (1) ceramic carbon electrodes, (2) metal powder-ceramic composite electrodes, (3) carbon nanotube-silicate composites, and (4) coated aluminosilicate-ceramic electrodes. The first two fillers are basically three dimensional, whereas the third and fourth classes represent 1-D and 2-D anisotropic fillers. 

Nanocarbon structures such as fullerenes, carbon nanotubes and graphene, are characterized by their weak interphase interaction with host matrices (polymer, ceramic, metals) when fabricating composites [99,100]. In addition to their characteristic high surface area and high chemical inertness, this fact turns these carbon nanostructures into materials that are very difficult to disperse in a given matrix. However, uniform dispersion and improved nanotube/matrix interactions are necessary to increase the mechanical, physical and chemical properties as well as biocompatibility of the composites [101,102]. 

A. A. White, S. M. Best, I. A. Kinloch, Hydroxyapatite-carbon nanotube composites for biomedical applications A review, International Journal of Applied Ceramic Technology, vol. 4, pp. 1-13, 2007. 

Jiang, L. and L. Gao, Fabrication and characterization of carbon nanotube-titanium nitride composites with enhanced electrical and electrochemical properties. Journal of the American Ceramic Society, 2006. 89(1) p. 156-161. 

Wang, X.T., Padture, N.P., Tanaka, H. et al., Contact-damage-resistant ceramic/ single-wall carbon nanotubes and ceramic/graphite composites, Nature Mater., 2004, 3(8) 539. 

Laurent, C., Peigney, A., Dumortier, O., Rousset, A., (1998), Carbon nanotubes-Fe-alumina nanocomposites. Part II Microstructure and mechanical properties of the hot-pressed composites , J. Eur. Ceram. Soc., 18, 2005-2013. 

Morisada, Y., Takaura, Y., Hirota, K., Yamaguchi, O., Miyamoto, Y., Mechanical properties of SiC composites incorporating SiC-coated multi-walled carbon nanotubes , J. Am. Ceram. Soc., submitted. 

Ning, J., Zhang, J., Pan, Y. and Guo, J., Surfactants assisted processing of carbon nanotube-reinforced Si02 matrix composites , Ceramics International, 2004, 30, 63-67. 

This chapter describes the preparation and examination of ceramic matrix composites realized by the addition of different carbon polymorphs (carbon black nanograins, graphite micrograins, carbon fibers and carbon nanotubes) to silicon nitride matrices. In the following sections, structural, morphological and mechanical characteristics of carbon-containing silicon nitride ceramics are presented. 

The manufacture of a ceramic composite generally requires high temperatures. Destruction of carbon nanotubes using a hot-press technique was reported by Flahaut etal. [39], Therefore, the high-temperature degradation process of CNTs has to be further optimized to achieve proper protection of CNTs in high-temperature processes. 

Peigney, A., Laurent, Ch., Flahaut, E., Rousset, A., Carbon nanotubes in novel ceramic matrix composites, Ceram. Int., 26, 2000, 677-683. 

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